The
Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve is a 148 square miles (383.3 km²)
state preserveMichigan Underwater Preserves or Michigan Bottomland Preserves are protected areas of the Great Lakes on Michigan's coast. The eleven designated areas, comprising a surface area of over , are considered to be "Underwater museums" and serve to protect concentrations of shipwrecks, unique geologic...
in and around the
Straits of MackinacThe Straits of Mackinac is the strip of water that connects two of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and separates the Lower Peninsula of Michigan from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is a shipping lane providing passage for raw materials and finished goods, connecting, for...
. The preserve is divided in two by the
Mackinac BridgeThe Mackinac Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac to connect the non-contiguous Upper and Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. Opened in 1957, the bridge is the third longest in total suspension in the world and the longest suspension bridge between anchorages...
. The waters of the preserve include the waters offshore from
Mackinaw CityMackinaw City is a village in Emmet and Cheboygan counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2000 census the population was 859. The name "Mackinaw City" is a bit of a misnomer as it is actually a village...
and
St. IgnaceSaint Ignace, usually written as St. Ignace, is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 2,678. It is the county seat of Mackinac County. From the Lower Peninsula, St. Ignace is the gateway to the Upper Peninsula.St...
, as well as all or part of the shorelines of
Bois Blanc IslandBois Blanc Island is coterminous with Bois Blanc Township, Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The island covers about and is about 12 miles long, 6 miles wide and has 6 lakes. Bois Blanc is located in Lake Huron southeast of Mackinac Island and almost due north of the city of...
,
Mackinac IslandMackinac Island is an island and resort area covering in land area, part of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The island was home to a Native American settlement before European...
,
Round IslandRound Island is an uninhabited island in Mackinac County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in the Straits of Mackinac, which connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The Native Americans called the island "Nissawinagong."...
, and St. Helena Island.
The preserve contains at least eleven identified
wrecksA shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
. Frequent fog and congested shipping added to the count of shipwrecks in the Straits area. Half a dozen
lighthouseA lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
s in and around the preserve testify to the dangers that existed prior to the invention of
radarRadar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
in the 1940s. Tragedies have continued, however. One modern wreck within the boundaries of the preserve is the
CedarvilleSS Cedarville was a bulk carrier that carried limestone on the Great Lakes in the mid 1900s until it sank after a collision with another ship, SS Topdalsfjord.-Service history:...
, a limestone
lake freighterLake freighters, or Lakers, are bulk carrier vessels that ply the Great Lakes. The best known was the , the most recent and largest major vessel to be wrecked on the Lakes. These vessels are traditionally called boats, although classified as ships. In the mid-20th century, 300 lakers worked the...
that sank in 1965 after a collision. For more information on the wrecks, see "Shipwrecks of the Straits of Mackinac" by Dr. Charles E. Feltner and Jeri Baron Feltner.
Divers also visit underwater formations of Mackinac
brecciaBreccia is a rock composed of broken fragments of minerals or rock cemented together by a fine-grained matrix, that can be either similar to or different from the composition of the fragments....
near Mackinac Island; one such formation, the
Rock Maze, is offshore from
Arch RockArch Rock is a geologic formation on Mackinac Island in Michigan. It is a natural limestone arch formed during the Nipissing post-glacial period, a period of high Lake Huron levels following the end of the Wisconsin glaciation...
. Further east off Arch Rock, a drowned, 100-foot-high (30 m) waterfall formation,
Mackinac FallsMackinac Falls is a drowned 100-foot -high waterfall formation under the waters of Lake Huron. The formation, which lies approximately 1 mile east of Arch Rock on Mackinac Island, was the former outflow point for water flowing eastward from postglacial Lake Michigan...
, was discovered in August 2007.
Known wrecks within the preserve
| Wreck Name | Depth | GPS/LAT/LON |
| William H. Barnum |
58’ to 75’ |
45 44.42’N / 084 37.53’W |
| Cayuga |
75’ to 102’ |
45 43.19’N / 085 11.36’W |
| Cedarville SS Cedarville was a bulk carrier that carried limestone on the Great Lakes in the mid 1900s until it sank after a collision with another ship, SS Topdalsfjord.-Service history:...
|
40’ to 106’ |
45 47.13’N / 084 40.13’W |
| Eber Ward |
111’ to 143’ |
45 48.83’N / 084 49.04’W |
| Fred McBrier |
96’ to 104’ |
45 48.11’N / 085 55.09’W |
| Maitland |
85’ |
45 49.20’N / 085 52.29’W |
| Minneapolis |
124’ |
45 48.32’N / 084 50.08’W |
| Newell Eddy |
165’ |
45 46.89’N / 084 13.81’W |
| Northwest |
75’ |
45 47.32’N / 084 51.30’W |
| Rock Maze |
0 to 35' |
45 54.862’N / 084 36.402’W |
| Sandusky |
70’ to 85’ |
45 48.09’N / 084 50.08’W |
| Martin Stalker |
85' |
45 47.38’N / 084 41.04’ |
| St. Andrew |
62' |
45 42.07’N / 084 31.46’W |
| Uganda |
185' to 207' |
45 50.30’N / 085 03.49’W |
| William Young |
120' |
45 48.79’N / 084 41.91’W |
See also
- Michigan Underwater Preserves
Michigan Underwater Preserves or Michigan Bottomland Preserves are protected areas of the Great Lakes on Michigan's coast. The eleven designated areas, comprising a surface area of over , are considered to be "Underwater museums" and serve to protect concentrations of shipwrecks, unique geologic...
- Old Mackinac Point Light
- Round Island Light (Michigan)
The Round Island Light, also known as the "Old Round Island Point Lighthouse" is a lighthouse located on the west shore of Round Island in the shipping lanes of the Straits of Mackinac, which connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron...
- St. Helena Island Light